Life happens... and there's usually a soundtrack to it if you look hard enough.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Ear on TV: Week of 10.11.10: Mark Ronson & the Business International

Depending on your perspective Mark Ronson is a DJ, a producer, a socialite, a musical svengali, or perhaps just Samantha Ronson's older brother. No matter the context, Ronson is surrounded by incredible talent, and that is perceived as both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. But with Record Collection, Ronson takes another step out from behind the mixing board, this time writing his own songs and (surprise!) singing for once.

Meanwhile, the tireless touring juggernauts My Morning Jacket appear to be getting in on the nostalgia show kick. On successive nights in New York (October 19-23), MMJ will perform their first five albums in their entirety, one for each night's concert. In support of this, they'll appear on Letterman Tuesday and take over the famed Ed Sullivan Theater for a full webcast performance, debuting online at 8PM EST.

Elsewhere, the Danger Mouse and James Mercer (The Shins) collaboration Broken Bells is still out touring for their sublime self-titled debut, and are both getting up early (The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday) and staying up late (Last Call with Carson Daly on Tuesday) to promote it. Another odd couple collaboration making the rounds this week is the combination of Ben Folds and British author Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity). Their recording, Lonely Avenue, involved the emailing of lots of lyrics and mp3 files back and forth to bridge the Atlantic ocean, but they'll be face-to-face for their appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday night.